. >> here we are at wheatland. this is the home of president james buchanan and harriet lane, his niece. in 1848, they moved here. this was the place she would call home until the age of 36 when she married and moved to baltimore. while entering the parlor here at wheat land, this was a special home. this was the place where harriet lane as a host for her uncle, james buchanan, might serve tea to friends and guests, write letters to her friends. this is the room where the family lived. they would spend time together, play games, sing. just enjoy each other's company. very much like we would use a family room today. here we had harriet lane's piano. it is manufactured by the chickering company of boston. this was probably purchased in the mid to late 1860's. we have her music book here. it was embossed with her name on the front. it contains a number of pieces including italian classics, and we also have some patriotic songs in here. one of her uncle's favorite things to do was sit in this parlor on a sunday afterno

. >> here we are in harriet lane's bedroom at wheatland. and this room is furnished in a way that's very similar to the way it might have been furnished when she was living here. the furnishings you see today are actually pieces she owned after her marriage in 1866. so behind me you'll see her original wardrobe. and this is a piece where she would have stored her beautiful gowns, her european gowns she purchased from paris. she was well known throughout the country for fabulous clothing. she had a penchant for european fashions. most of her clothes were handmade for her. in paris. and the dress here was actually designed by the fashion house worth of paris and worn later in life. her signature style as first lady differed fairly radically from this dress here. she'd wear full gown with many layers of ruffles and white berthas at the neck and known for her low neckline, which wasn't in fashion in america yet but she brought it to the forefront of fashion and people started copying her. some of her garments created a bit of a scandal because

. >> have you been to all of these places like wheatland? >> yes, i have. >> and when did you start doing that? >> well, even before i was working on the white house. i was interested in that. and these individuals and how they lived. wheatland's is an exceptional site to go to. it's a -- it's everything's there. harriet lane was a very wealthy woman. when she died late 1917, i think, it was round lip said she was the most highly respected woman in the united states. her charity, shep founded the -- the -- harriet lane children's hospital in baltimore. they changed the lane about 25 years ago, be uh still the children's hospital. they found the st. almond's school in memory of her two little boys. >> mm-hmm. she did many, many good workings. she didn't just go into a shell like jane pearce. she -- she was very active and into things and the -- and doing good works. she was a strong woman. maybe not a scholar or a learned-type woman, ever. but she was a human -- she was a people type lady. >> how many first ladies in this first part of the se

here we are in harriet lane's bedroom in wheatland. this room is furnishished in a way that it might have been furnishished when she was living here. the funks that you see today are actually pieces she owned after her marriage in 1856. behind me you will see her wardrobe. this is a piece she would have stored her european gowns she bought in paris. she was known for her fabulous clothing. she had a penchant for european fabrics. most of her clothing was handmade for her. some were worn later in life. her signature tile was radically different from this here. she would wear full gowns were many layers of ruffles. she was also known for her low neckline. that was not quite in fashion in america yet, about by she brought it to the forefront of attention because she was showing dwight eye bit of skin. it caught on, and all the ladies copied this fashion. they copied her hair and her jewelery and general fashion sense. we have a small dog that was created to look just like her -- we have a doll that was created to look just like her. she i